Legislative Actions

Indian Removal Act of 1830

The Indian Removal Act was pivotal in the removal of the Native American nations from the American Southeast. This act authorized the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi to Native American nations in exchange for their land within existing state borders.¹

Cherokee Resistance

The Cherokee, in response to Georgia depriving them of their rights within their boundaries, filed with the United States Supreme Court in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. 1 (1831)³. The Supreme Court heard the case but declined to rule on its merits that the US Constitution treats the Native American tribes as "domestic dependent nations" and so the Cherokee Nation lacked standing to sue as a "foreign" nation.

A year later in Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832)⁴ the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation was a foreign nation and had soverign rights to their land, that the federal government had control over foreign affairs, and the states had no authority in Native American affairs. This decision was ignored by President Andrew Jackson in the Treaty of New Echota², forcing the Cherokee to move to lands west of the Mississippi.

Native American Treaties

The United States signed treaties with Native American nations to obtain their lands east of the Mississippi and aid in their removal west of the Mississippi. One primary example is the Treaty of New Echota², signed by a small faction of the Cherokee, resulting in the cession of their lands despite the objections of the majority of the nation. This was used as the legal basis for the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee tried to petition congress to nullify the treaty as it wasn't approved by the legal representatives of the Cherokee Nation⁶, but that failed and the Senate ratified the treaty in 1836 despite the Cherokee resistance.